pinata242

Ok, more seriously, I'll break it down real quick using this video as reference.



Basically, the goal of a round, as far as I could tell, is to get rid of all the "Beatniks". The Beatniks are arranged in a circular pattern that you can rotate around a South-facing shooter. You shoot Beatniks into the circle to match 3 to remove them. Once gone, the circle collapses and creates combos - Zuma. Occasionally a Beatnik is also a bomb or a coin (get three for a "prize").

In order to get into the "Zuma" portion, you have to pass a small button-sequence that is set to the music. Fail and you have to retry. Pass and you get to bash Beatniks.

I noticed that sometimes I'd have 1 Beatnik to shoot, sometimes 2 or 3. I think it might have to do with keeping your button-sequence chain alive.

So keeping the chain going, getting more Beatniks to shoot per "Zuma" round would result in faster clear times.

Unlike Zuma, the Beatnik circle doesn't grow. There's a set configuration for the round and the goal is to clear it as fast as possible.

Michael Corvin

My 360 red-ringed yesterday.

Thanks for the vid. Looks pretty cool. I'll have to remember this though when I get it back.

Decker

Didn't get to try them this morning but I'm looking forward to giving them a go this evening.

IGN has their review of Go! Go! Steady Break up now.

Closing Comments
Go! Go! Break Steady is a fun experiment in merging two genres that would seem to have nothing in common. It's like putting a walrus in your peanut butter. And yet, the results aren't half bad. If you can stomach the urban façade, there's a good game to be downloaded. It may not keep you satisfied for long (and can't hold a candle to Puzzle Quest or Zuma), it will probably have you hooked for a little while.

IGN Ratings for Go! Go! Break Steady (X360)
Rating Description
out of 10 click here for ratings guide
6.0 Presentation
The urban in your face set-up is obnoxious, not hip. It would be nice to have some customization options for the six characters.
6.0 Graphics
The art style is pretty slick, but the dancing is actually very uninspired.
6.5 Sound
There are 20 unique tracks, about half of which are good.
7.5 Gameplay
It's a great idea that works for the most part. The lack of depth is the only real downfall.
6.5 Lasting Appeal
It won't take you long to beat the tournament, but there's enough draw to attempt to better your scores.
7.3
Decent OVERALL

Decker

Oh, and an odd question for those who gave 1942 a try : Do you use both sticks or just the left? I ask because I just splurged on a Hori stick and want to be able to use it on some more arcade games (can't wait for SF II HD Turbo).

pinata242

Standard 1942 controls. Left stick for movements, one button each for guns, missles/joint strike, and bombs.

Liver&Onions

yay - Ticket to Ride Europe expansion comes next week. 600 points though...

Groucho

Excellent! Can't wait.

Jeremy517

600 for just a map, or are there gameplay differences too?

I'll still get it, though, since I have a bunch of cheap points from various deals and I really like the original.

Liver&Onions

But we paid 800 points for just a map too

There are ferries, stations, and other stuff which i think makes it slightly different.

Groucho

Assuming it's the game as the board game, there will be gameplay differences as well.

According to Wikipedia, "Ticket to Ride: Europe takes place on a map of Europe as it was at the turn of the 20th century. The game includes two new types of route: 'Ferry' routes, which require 'Locomotive' cards to be played when claiming them, and 'Tunnel' routes, which add an element of risk and chance to the game.

"Each player is also given three 'Train stations', which allow a player to sacrifice points to use a route already claimed by another player.

"The method of distributing ‘destination cards’ is also different as compared to the base game."

Jeremy517

Not really. We paid 800 for the actual game and one map for the game.

Glad to hear that there is added gameplay in the expansion. Should be a nice change-of-pace.

Decker

600 for the Europe expansion seems fair. I'll probably get that.

tonyc3742

Anyone tried the Puzzle Quest expansion yet? (If you haven't seen it, go into the game itself, then hit Download Content, the expansion will be one of the options.)
I beat the story not too long ago and while I enjoyed it throughout, I was about ready for it to end. Depending how much it adds, or the new class types, I might not be averse to revisiting this one with a new character and the new content.
3 new achievements...this is sad, but that makes it more attractive to me. The only one I don't have is the Gdlike item, and adding three new ones means that much more "new" stuff to do.
IGN's got details on the expansion.
http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/893/893202p1.html
OK, this is stupid, but in the battle screenshot, I really like the new meters for the mana points, although it does seem like that layout wastes a little screenspace.

pinata242

PQ Expansion: wish I would have gone with my gut. I've already finished the expansion so I'm here to say that be wary of spending your 700 points.

I love the game, but I kinda wish I hadn't jumped. There just wasn't enough content there to justify a ~60% cost of the original game (nearly 100% now). It certainly doesn't come close to adding 60% of content, let alone double it.

It took around 5 hours and I did all the sidequests and fought the last dude like 10 times. I did enjoy the new enemies and some of the new weapons (using a full Storm set, I did kick off a series of combos that was rather impressive - in the 15-20 range). But now I feel I'm done again with the game. I suppose I could start over with one of the new classes, but, meh...

Buyer beware...

Oh, and regarding that IGN link... I didn't have that interface. It must be an option I didn't turn on. It wasn't there by default.

pinata242

Geometry Wars 2 bumped up a week to 7/30 (next Wednesday!): http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/17164/...tro-Evolved-2/

tpc

Anyone playing Golf: Tee it Up? This is a short, but actually pretty good golf game. I picked it up last night, and ended up playing for hours with some friends. Good times.

It's more along the lines of Mario Golf than Tiger Woods, but there's nothing wrong with that.

Liver&Onions

Joint Strike rocks by the way. I love the old 1942 music spiced up - it made me smile just sitting at the title screen listening to it.

pinata242

Is it long/challenging enough to justify a purchase? Hell, anything after that PQ expansion would be... But with GW2 coming in 5 days, I'm not sure if I want to get 1942 anymore.

Jeremy517

It is only five levels.

(I know Ikaruga is only five levels also, but the production value seems a lot higher to me, so I didn't mind)

Liver&Onions

I still haven't finished the game, on the 2nd difficulty level, with 2 to go. So I don't know how long it is But the acheivements look like they'll take some work.

I don't know how long the demo is, as i bought it blind being a big 1942 fan. I wasn't disappointed.

hiphopkid

I play it all the time, it's a lot like hot shots.

Schloob1

Only 2 achievements appear to be real tough for 1942. The one of beating it at the highest diffulculty and getting the S rating on all bosses. While I know it is cheap, I was able to easily get the 2,000,000 point and A ranking on the easy diffulculty. The fact that I only "S" ranked 2 of the bosses though concerned but after some practice I figure I can get that "S" achievement.

Decker

I'm going to sit out this week. 1942 was nice, but not too thrilling and I think the widescreen actually made the game harder than the original configuration. It's not bad, but with that remade Galaga just around the corner, I think I can adopt a wait-and-see outlook before spending the points on this one.
Go! Go! Break Steady did nothing for me. It seems cute, but wasn't that much fun to play (at least in my brief time with the demo). I kept thinking "You know, I'd rather be playing some Boom Boom Rocket and then some Zuma instead of this game".

Decker

Well, I found out that Plunder, the RTS game we posted about a while ago has undergone a title change. It's now called "Age of Booty"

Still, here's an E3 preview. That game looks awesome. Can't wait for it (Sept or Oct release date).
Here's a video preview, spoilerized to keep from playing randomly.

beesonosu

I won't be purchasing Go! Go! Break Steady but I do enjoy song 3 (the song in the preview video).